The Journal

The “Archives of the Balkan Medical Union” is an international, peer-reviewed, open access, multidisciplinary journal, engaged in publishing original and review articles of the highest scientific and ethical quality in a wide range of basic, clinical and experimental research areas, covering all aspects of human health. Case reports, Editorials, Commentaries and Letters to the Editor are also considered for publication, either solicited or unsolicited. It is the official journal of the Balkan Medical Union (BMU) and is printed 4 times a year, in March, June, September and December. “Archives of the Balkan Medical Union” also publishes supplements with abstracts of papers presented at the annual scientific sessions of the Balkan Medical Union (BMU). The language of the journal is English, and the abstracts are published both in English and French. A small number of invited articles may be published in French. The journal is based on independent and unbiased double-blinded peer-reviewed principles. Only unpublished papers that are not under review for publication elsewhere can be submitted.

The first issue of the official journal of the Balkan Medical Union appeared in 1935, in Bucharest, Romania, under the editorship of Dr. M. Popescu Buzeu, the International Secretary General of the Balkan Medical Union, the most prominent personality of the organization. Dr. M. Popescu Buzeu was born on the 1st of December 1901 in Romania and was the Chief of Urology Clinic from the Central Military Hospital of Bucharest, Romania. He participated to the 2nd World War, being decorated several times. For his prodigious work he received Romanian war decorations: “The Commemorative Cross 1916-1918”, the order “Cross of the Queen Maria”, the medal “The crusade against Bolshevism”, the order “Star of Romania V class with sword and ribbon under the military virtue”, as well as foreign decorations: “The order George I (Greece)”, “The Medal of gold from Association of Surgeons of the U.S. officers”, “The crown of Italy to the rank of knight”, and “The Legion of Honor to the rank of knight” (France). Dr. M. Popescu Buzeu undoubtedly remains in the gallery of the great personalities of founders and leaders of medical institutions, an outstanding personality who stands as an example for the young members of the Balkan Medical Union. He was a brilliant organizer and leader, with an inexhaustible energy, honest, modest, a person of high standards. His remarkable scientific activity consisted of more than 300 scientific papers.

Dr. M. Popescu Buzeu had the most important contribution to the foundation of the Balkan Medical Union, on 24th of October 1932, in Bucharest, Romania, as a result of the multilateral strategic cooperation between Balkan countries. The objectives of the Balkan Medical Union were to establish and consolidate relationships between physicians and scientists from the Balkan countries, to encourage medical research and advancement of medical science, and to organize medical scientific events in Balkan countries. The Balkan Medical Union has always had a privileged position in the Balkan region, supporting researchers by opening ways of cooperation and exchange in a period when access to the international scientific community was denied for many Balkan health scientists, because of political reasons. National divisions have been created in each Balkan country: Albania, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Yugoslavia, Romania, and Turkey and, from 1993, Republic of Moldova. The headquarters were established in Bucharest, Romania, and the official language of the society was French, until 1988, when English was adopted as a second language. The motto of the Balkan Medical Union was “Health, Friendship, and Peace” and reflected the vision of its founders. Since 1932, the Balkan Medical Union has been organizing international scientific events, “Balkan Medical Week”, every two years, alternatively with “The Balkan Medical Days”, in each member country. The discussed topics referred to collaboration regarding public health issues, hygiene, malaria in the Balkans, the genito-urinary tract infections and sexually transmitted diseases, tuberculosis, medical and surgical emergencies, immunology, cardiology, respiratory diseases, medical technology, demography, medical informatics, pharmaceutical research, endemic goitre, etc. Also, about 30 international training courses on different topics have been organized since 1967. Over the years, the international secretary general and the presidents of the national sections were leading medical personalities, who had an enormous contribution to the development of Balkan medicine and, as reflected by the motto of the organization, who created strategic relationships between all the Balkan countries.

In 2009 and 2015, the annual congress of the Balkan Medical Union (BMU) took place in Paris, France, at the invitation of the National Academy of Medicine of France. The BMU collaborated with 24 scientific medical organizations outside the Balkans, including the World Health Organization, the National Academy of Medicine of France, the International Association for Medical and Cultural Research – Paris, the Medical Association of French Language in Lyon, Montreal and Paris, the International Association of Stomatology – Paris, the International Society of the History of Medicine (Montpellier), the International Committee of Military Medicine (Liege), the Institute “Gustave-Roussy” (Villejuif), the World Medical Association (FERNAY-Voltaire-France), Institute of Health Sciences (Paris), etc. BMU established collaboration agreements on various issues, such as health problems, hygiene, medical updates, scientific events, etc.

On the 1st of January 1939, the first issue of the “Archives Balkaniques de Médecine, Chirurgie et leurs spécialités” was published in French by the Masson Editing House, Paris, France. The editorial board was composed of medical personalities from Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, Turkey and Yugoslavia. The journal aimed to be a tribune for the newest scientific achievements in medicine, especially from Balkan countries. Because of the 2nd World War, the activity of the Balkan Medical Union was interrupted until 1963. On the 1st of August 1963, the journal became “Archives de l’Union Médicale Balkanique”, with continuous publication. The members of the Editorial Board have been prominent scientists and academicians from the Balkan member countries and from the National Academy of Medicine of France. Since 1997, the journal has been published in English, in a new series, as “Archives of the Balkan Medical Union”, in Bucharest, Romania. Over the years, the prestige of the journal has constantly raised, being indexed in more international databases.

Printed copies of the journal are distributed to over 100 university libraries in 10 Balkan countries, the library of the Academy of Medicine of France and all around the World. Since January 2017, the full-text of all the articles are available in PDF format on our website (www.umbalk.org) and can be downloaded free of charge.

Disclaimer

“The journal is open-access. The journal allows readers to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full text of its articles and allow readers to use them for any other lawful purpose”.